Last of the Garden

I had a few random bits left over from my Fall garden harvest. A couple tomatoes that I had harvested green and left to ripen in a paper bag, the last Violetta de Gama onion, garlic, parsley, dill, mint, a lone red pepper that I think was a pasilla, Meyer lemon, and pomegranate avrils. To this is added some farro, chick peas, dried cranberries, a little sumac, white vinegar, lemon olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. It is so fresh and makes me think of warm days. 

Seasons Change

Eating seasonally. Many of us have forgotten this due to having an abundance of veggies available all year round. Once you start to try and grow your own, be it in pots on a sunny window sill or a multi acre farm you learn this lesson. Growing things have a season. With the food shortages we have experienced I expanded my garden. While this has helped , it also really struck home how I need to adjust my eating habits. No wonder winter is the month of soups and stews. Not only are they hearty, but make good use of root vegetables and crops that are winter hardy. I will miss the ripe tomatoes of summer, but look forward to the cabbage, peas and turnips. 

So tonight’s dinner is going to be Tatie and Neeps and old Celtic recipe.

May the goddess bless you all with abundance

Tattie and Neeps Recipe

4 cups  diced potato

1 or 2 cups diced turnip

1/2 cup cream

4 tablespoons butter

2 cups sliced cabbage

1 small onion chopped 

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional 4 slices bacon crisply cooked and crumbled

Cook potato and turnip in boiling water until tender.

Drain and reserve.

If using bacon cook the cabbage and onion in the drippings until tender. Use olive oil if not using bacon.

Add potatoes and turnips to the pan with the cabbage and onion. Mash. Add cream, butter, salt and pepper, mixing well. If you like, you can let the bottom get slightly browned. Top with crumbled bacon.

Serves 6 as a side dish or 4 as a main course.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. We had all the girls here this year except for my niece Brenna and her baby. I wish she could have made it, but I will see her soon. I have a nasty cold, but I still got the pies made.



Here is my Jack-O-Lantern Pie. Little did poor Jack know when he was sitting on my porch under the Halloween moon, that he would end up in my pie! Yummy, yummy!

Jack-O-Lantern Pie Recipe
1 Jack-O-Lantern cut in half, seeds and fibers scooped out and baked in 350 degree oven on greased baking sheet for an hour and 45 minutes or until very tender. Scoop flesh from rind and puree in food processor. You can package in 2 cup amounts and store in freezer for about 1 year.

4 cups Jack-o-Lantern puree
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 to 1 cup packed brown sugar (taste the pumpkin to see how bitter it is and add to taste)
1 teas salt
1 teas gr. ginger
1/2 teas gr. cloves
2 teas gr. cinnamon
1/2 teas gr. nutmeg
2 can evaporated milk
4 extra large eggs
2 pie crusts for 9 inch deep dish pie pans, or 10 inch pie pans (seriously, don't try the regular 9 inch)

Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Stir together the sugars and spices and add to the eggs. Stir in the pumpkin puree. Gradually add in the evaporated milk. Pour into the pie shells. Bake in preheated 450 degree oven for 15 minutes. Lower temperature to 350 and bake another 40 to 55 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool. Serve with ice cream!




My daughter Keirnath brought her bunny marshmallow and her dog Luke. they played in the front yard with our dogs Fern and Howie. It was like a menagerie, LOL.




Keirnath reads to her nieces Chloe and Moiren.




Here Moiren is caught red-handed getting into the bag of chips!




Dinner was a success as seen by how little was left after the ravaging horde hit it!

It was such a beautiful day. I wish I could have had more photos, but we were so busy laughing and talking and cooking and eating that we really didn't think about the camera. Oh well, we still have memories.

A Baking Fit

I must have lost my mind. I spent an entire day in a baking frenzy. I made blueberry muffins, cranberry muffins, french bread, cheese bread, multigrain bread and also cooked dinner from scratch. The whole house was toasty warm and smelled of spices and bread and we tucked into such a luscious dinner. I am surprised we did not burst. Especially since we ate every single muffin that I baked and half the loaf of multigrain bread and part of the loaf of french bread! Of course I did have my granddaughter there to help me bake and eat and I do have a 16 year old nephew who can eat his weight in food, but still! We should all be comatose! I have to admit though, that nothing is like making it all yourself. I get such satisfaction from baking and cooking from scratch. I really feel connected to the food in a way that you don't get when you just open cans and packages. I like knowing exactly what is going into our bodies. It will be even more fun when I get to plant my garden and the first tender lettuces and radishes come up. Oh yum! I am so looking forward to that. Spring, you can not come too soon for me!